Gas control fob hotor-vehicles



yA. F. BEAUREGARD. GAS CONTROL FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FIXED MAR.27. |919.

Patented July 29, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET A. F. BEAUREGARD.

GAS CONTROL FORMOTOR VEHICLES.

Y Y APPLICATION FILED MAR.27. ISIS. y 1,3 1 1,800. Patented July 29, 1919.

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l resides in the novel eatures of construction To all inkom tmay concern.;

Be it known that I, F. Brauneam, a citizen of the United States, residvented ing at West .De Pere, in the county of Brown and State of Wisconsin, have incertain new and useful Im rovements in Gas Controls for Motor-Ve 'cles; and Ido declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescri tion of the invention, such `as willenable 'others skilled in the art to which it appertains make and use the Same,

4.My invention has for its object to provide a4 simply constructed, easily operated and sensitive hand-control for motor vehicles which will permit the speed of the motor to be4 readily varied without removing either hand from the steering' wheel.

further ob- With they foregoing in view,

jects are to rovide 4an Voperatingdhanlle ati;V

ee an to oca the o fgt e steering w the control member for transferring motion l from the handle'to the gas or other control,

ina hollow s oke of the wheel.-

A still er object is to provide a d ouble-actng'fkey forlocking' the steerin wheel tofthe steringshaft and for guidigng the Fig. 1 is taken.

lwhic locks the steering wheel the steen.

the .numeral 1 aforesaidcontrol' member from the hollow' spoke into 'said shaft.

the foregoin in View, the invention fully described and claimed, reference'be--- in made tothe accompanying drawings.'l

igure lisa verticalsection of a of a steering wheel showing the app of my invention thereto.

,Fig. 2 is a top planview of a portion of the wheel with arts in lsection on the planes indicated by e line 2-'2 'of Fig. 1; and Fig. 2 disc oses the line. 1.-1 upon which cation Fig. 3 is a perspectiveview of a complete steer' wheel Aembodying the features shown in Figs. land 2.

Fi 4 is a. perspective view of the key ing shaft. Fig.'5` is a zperspective view showin a.

sli htly dierent form of construction. ig.- 6 isa horizontal .section of the device shown/inFi 5.x A f Fig. 7 is a vdetail vertical section showing a still further modification.

I n the above briefly described, the'jim ofI the Bpeoioation ot Letters Patent.

Applitloll led m01! 27, 1919. serial H0. yl. t

portion Patented July 29, 1919.

i steering wheel, said rim'having a gap 2 and a hollow' spoke 3 extending from the wheel hub 4 into said gap, with its outer end enlar 'ed to forma casingQ disposed lvertical y and secured. by a screw 6 or by the screw and socket 7 and 8, Fig. 6, to the rim 1, at one end ofthe a 2. The casin 5 is by preference provid e with a remova le bottom 9 which extends Jhorizontally to a,

suitable extent Abeneath the spoke 3 and is detachably secured thereto, the interior ofA 4the extended portion 10 of the section 9 .forming a lower the passage 12 wit in the spoke. The twoV assage 11 parallel with passages communicate at the outer end of the spoke 3, or invother words, open into the circular casing 5. l'

The side of the casing 5 opposite the side which is secured to the rim 1, is provided with a circularopening 13, and a stud shaft 14 extends through said opening and is secured by a screw or the like 15 to the opposite side of the casing. The stub shaft 14 extends to the end of the` gap 2, opposite the end to which the casing 5` is secured, and maywell be prow'i'ded with a socket 16 receiving a tenon 17 on the rim, one or more screws 18 being preferably employed for se, curing said tenon in the socket. A tubular shaft 19 rotatably surrounds the stub shaft 14 and is either provided with a hand grip 20 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 or with a wheel 211 havin projections 22 to be engaged by the 'thum' of the user (see Figs. 5 and 6).

By either means, the shaft 19 may be rotated and it is b such rotation that the supply of gas to t e n iotor is controlled.A When a thumb wheel such as 21 is used, it occupies less s ace than a hand grip 20 and conseuent y the gap 2 is of less width and the afts 14 and 19 are of less length. A sprocket wheel 23 is mountedon the inner end of the stub shaft 14 and housed within the casing 5, and a sprocket chain 24. is trained around said sprocketwheel, theY two `reaches of said chain sliding` respectivelyin the passages 11 and 12. The upper reach of the chain 24 extends into the vholvlowsteeringshaft 25 upon which th'e steering wheel is mountedl and curves down-` wardly into said hollow shaft as seen at 26. By means of a ball joint or the like 27, the upper reach of the chain 24 is'connected to a vertically l sliding control rod 28 within the shaft 25'and a tubular guide 29 may well be provided for said rod. By the arrangement 'connection 27 a swivel is provided which permits free turning of the steering wheel without rotating the rod 2S. It will be unv derstood, however, that in some forms of the invention, the rod y28 might well turn with the wheel.

For relatively holding the steering wheel and the shaft 25 and at the saine time for guiding the downward `curve 26 of the chain 24, I provide a transverse key 30 which is held in place lby the usual nut 3l threaded on the upper end of the aforesaid shaft, one lower corner of said key being cut away on a' curved line as seen at 32 for contact with the downwardly curving part 26 of the chain 24:. rIhis arrangement not only effectively guides thechain to prevent buckling thereof in passi-ng from the spoke into the shaft, but alsoA effectively keys the steering Wheel to (said shaft.

In some instances, a metal cable or flexible shaft 33`such as seen in Fig. 7,-may be substituted for the chain 24, in which instance it will be necessary to employ a pulley or drum 34 upon the shaft 19, said cable or flexible shaft being suitably secured 'to the pulley or drum 'by -any preferred means l such as the screw 3 From the foregoing, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, itwill be seen that although I have provided a comparatively simple and'inex'pensive device for carrying out the objects of the invention,-

such device will be highlyjelicient andy in every way desirable; and since probably the' 'best results are obtainedv from the detailsv within the scope of the inventionas claimed,

considerable latitude is allowed for-makingv such minor changes as occasion' may dictate. I claim l dle on the exterior of the outer end of said hollow spoke with its-axis extending in the dle lis' operated.

^ 2. In amotor vehicle control, a steering wheel having a hollow spoke, a wheel rotat-i, ably mounted in the outer end ',of'saidspokef o n an axis extending in the generaldirectionofthe wheel rim, a handle.' extending fronrsaid wheel to the exterior of-the spoke for rotating the former, and a flexible con-- trol member slidable in said hollow s oke to operate a control of the motor, said exible control member passing around the wheel in said hollow spoke to receive its motion therefrom.

3. In a motor vehicle control, a steering wheel provided with a hollow spoke having in one side an opening near the outer end of the spoke, a stub shaft carried by the opposite side of the spoke and extending across the interior of the latter and through said opening, a tubular shaft surrounding said stub shaft and adapted to be rotated by hand, a control member slidable in said hollow spoke, for operating a control of the motor, and means for sliding said control member when said tubular shaft isrotated.

4. In a motor vehicle control, a steering wheel having a hollow spoke provided at its outer end with a casing having in one-side an opening, a stub shaft mounted on the other f side of the casing` and extending across the rounding-.said stub shaft and extending from said wheel to be-rotated by hand, and'l a dexible control member slidable in said hollow spoke to operatea control'of the motor, said' exible control member passing aroundi said5 wheel to receive its-motion therefrom.

5. Ina .motor vehicle control, a steering wheel having a gap` in its rim. and a hollow* spoke with itsouter end located at said` gap, a rotary handle in -said gap, a control nie-1n'- ber in said hollow spoke for 'operating' a' ioa control of the motor, and' means for oper ating said control member'from said' handle In a motor vehicle control, a' steering wheel having a gap. in its rim and a hollow spoke whose` outer end occupies part-'of such..

gap and is secured to the rim at one end? off said gap, astu'b shaft egittendiiigt across' the interior ofthe spoke-and'throughan openin in oneA side thereof', one end of said 4stu l iic shaft being mountedcii thaside of the spoke v opposite s aiol opening; and" the. otherfeirid,4 thereof being secured'to the wheel rim at the v end of the gap opposite that towliich the.' y 1i. In amotor vehiclecontrol, a steering` l i `wheel having' a hollow spoke, a, rotary hanspoke is secured, a handle rotatable onsaid stubshaft, a control member 'in the hollow spoke for operating a controlfof'the motor,

ber from said handle;

7. In a motor vehicle control, asteering'` wheelhaving a spoke provided-with upperand lower guide passages which communicate .in .the outer end of the spoke to provide a casing, a sprocket wheel-in said casin with its axis extending in the-general' direction of the wheel rim, a Sprocket ch'ain. trained' around" said" sprocket wheelI with itsV two reaches slidably receivedli'n said upper and' lowerpassages,l one of' said: reaches being,l adapted to operate a, control ofthe motor;

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and means, including a handle, for rotating said s rocket wheel as required.

8. n a motor vehicle control, a steering wheel h'aving a hollow spoke, a hollow steering shaft to which the wheel is secured andwith which said spoke communicates, a flexible, sliding, control member in said spoke. and curving downwardly into said hollow shaft to operate a control of'the motor, means for guiding the curved portion of said flexible control member, and means, including a handle, for sliding said control member.

9. In a motor vehicle control, a steering .wheel having a hollow spoke, a hollow steering shaft to which the wheel is secured and with which said spoke communicates, a ilexible, sliding, control member in said spoke and curving downwardly into said hollow shaft, a sliding, centrally located, control rod in said hollow shaft to which said iexible control member is swiveled, and means, icluding a handle, for sliding said mem- In a motor vehicle control, a steering wheel having a hollow spoke, a hollow steering shaft on which the wheel is mounted and l with which said hollow spoke communicates wheel having a hollow spoke, a hollow steering shaft on which the wheel is mounted and with which said hollow spoke communicates, a flexible, slidable, control member in said hollow spoke and. curving downwardly into said hollow Ishaft to operate a control for the motor means, including a handle, for sliding sa1d control member, and a transverse key extending across said hollow shaft into the hubA ofthe steering wheel, one lower corner of Said key being removed on a curved line, to provide means for guiding the curved portion of said control member.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ALBERT FRANK BEAUREGARD. 

